Short Lives
by yugihfan2002
Summary: Dragon never knew how prophetic he was being when he called Jane and her friends short lives. One shot Character death.


Short lives: Dragon never knew how prophetic he was being when he called Jane and her friend's short lives. One shot death fic.

**Warning**: There is character death involved, so no likey, no ready, got it? I'm not about to read a bunch of flames simply because you didn't read this warning. With that said, here goes…

Dragon paced back and forth across the courtyard, his tail thumping the ground with every agitated step. Jester was standing next to him; his hat flying off of his head as he ducked Dragon's swinging tail.

"I'm sure she's all right Dragon. I mean she's gone on missions without you before." Jester said.

"You don't understand! Dragon's have a sixth sense about these things. I just know something has gone wrong."

Jester said nothing as he stared out as far as he could see.

------------------------------------------------flashback-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jane could hardly contain her excitement; it had been a year since she had become the first female knight and now she had been given her first assignment. She was to go to the neighboring kingdom to help on a patrol for bandits that had been harassing travelers in the area.

She was finally getting a chance to prove herself. She was so happy, that she almost forgot about dragon until she heard the flap of his wings and for the first time since she had been given her mission, her smile faded as she watched Dragon land, he was not going to be happy.

"Ah there you are Jane, and just in time for patrol."

"Dragon, I am afraid I won't be able to go out on patrol today**." **

"But that is your favorite thing to do!"

"I know Dragon, but I've been given my first assignment as a knight," she paused as she looked down at the ground, "and I am supposed to be leaving tonight."

"Then we'll go together." He said angrily.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about Dragon. You see, the mission was given to me, Jane, not Jane and her Dragon."

"You don't want me to go?"

"No Dragon, I don't want you to go. This is my first mission given to me by the king himself. If I bring you along, how will that look? As if I'm still a little girl who needs the protection of her Dragon everywhere she goes."

"And what if you are hurt hmm? Who is going to take care of you?"

"I will!"

"But Jane!"

"No buts Dragon, I was given this mission, and I shall complete it. And if it really worries you that much I'll take Gunther with me. You have no need to fear."

"But I do fear Jane, and that's what scares me."

Jane pulled the dragon's head down until he was facing her. "Now listen here green lips, you may not understand but this is something I need to do alone. I need to prove to myself and to others that I can do things on my own."

Dragon sighed as he wrapped his wings around Jane, "All right Jane."

The last he had seen of her had been when she was leaving the castle, waving cheerily to all of her friends…

……………………………………………………………………………….END FLASHBACK…………………………...

"Someone is coming" Dragon said, sounding almost relieved as he leapt off of the tower into the courtyard, landing just as a horse came galloping in.

Gunther dismounted, leaning heavily on his horse, looking weary as he spotted Dragon.

"Where is she?" He growled dangerously

Gunther looked down at the ground as if he didn't want to meet Dragons eyes. "We were ambushed Dragon. We tried to fight, but there were too many of them."

"I did not ask what happened! I want to know where Jane is! Tell me Gunther, where is she!"

He looked up momentarily, and sighed heavily, "I wish I didn't have to be the one to tell you this Dragon. There was an ambush waiting for us when we went out on patrol today. They knew we would be there. We were unprepared for such an attack." He took another deep breath, "She was hit by an arrow when she dove in front of it to save my life. We retreated to a safer position, and it was at that time that we realized that the arrow had been poisoned. It was a trap and it cost us her life."

"You were supposed to protect her!" Dragon's eyes blazed angrily as he looked at Gunther.

"And you do not think I tried! I searched for every potion and every remedy that I knew of!" He said angrily as he tried to walk away, only to be stopped by Dragon

"I do not believe you!" He roared, "You hated her!"

"No Dragon! I swear! If there was anything I could have done, any way I could have traded her life for mine, I would have done it! She may have been a girl, she may have been a pain, but she was my friend too!" Tears streamed down his face as he pushed through the small crowd that had gathered.

Dragon watched him go, "I'm going to see her." He said, and flew off.

Clouds whipped by his head and he couldn't help thinking about Jane as he flew through them, about how she had always loved the freedom of flying with him, how her hair had flown freely in the wind as she had whooped in delight.

All to soon he could see the outline of the other castle, and his heart plummeted into his stomach at the thought of going to see her. But eventually, he decreased altitude, landing just inside the inner gates. He wondered for a moment how proud she would be of the perfect landing he had just executed, and then he walked on, right into the center of the castle, and his heart wrenched as he saw her laying there on a stone slab, her arms crossed over her sword, looking like any minute she would sit up.

He reached out with a claw, softly stroking the cold face, knowing now at last that she was dead, that she would not be coming home.

"You promised." He whispered silently as tears ran down his nose. "You promised you would come home!"

"You must be Jane's Dragon, I've heard a lot about you."

Dragon whipped around, startled, he had not even heard anyone approaching.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Artemis. I was Jane's commander."

"Were you with her when she died?"

"I was…"

"Tell me how it happened."

"We had just come up on the forest that borders the castle when an arrow shot out from the trees. Jane was the first to react; she pulled us both to the ground, but was hit. We barely had time to pull out our shields before more volleys started to rain down on us. We waited like that for what seemed like an eternity before the reinforcements came and chased the bandits off. Jane was badly wounded, but it looked like she would live until our medic examined the arrow. It was poison Dragon. She tried so hard to stay awake for you, but the poison was just too strong. She died before we reached the castle. But she died a knight, protecting her friends, brave and loyal to the end."

"Thank you for telling me."

"I will leave you here alone with her."

Dragon said nothing, only waiting as long as it took for him to be alone, and then he turned back to her still body, taking one last look at the woman whom he had called friend, and then he took off, back to the castle she had called her home.

…………..Dragon's POV……………………………………………………..

I wonder now, even as my wings glide effortlessly through the air, how it is that I am keeping from falling. My heart feels like it's been stomped on repeatedly and then smashed with a hammer, and my wings feel heavier than lead as I travel over a large lake. The water looks so inviting, so peaceful as the sound of the water lapping against the shore reaches my ears. I hit the water like a stone, and as I sink, I think about Jane. About her life, and mine, about how we met, and the adventures we shared together. I close my eyes, even as water begins to fill my lungs.

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asks, and I gasp as I see Jane standing in front of me.

"I should have thought that would be obvious. I want to be with you."

"So you're going to drown yourself? Hardly a heroic death for a dragon."

"At least I'll be with you!"

"Dragon, you should know better." She reached out, pressing her hand against my scales, "No matter what happens to me, you and I will always be together, here in your heart."

I awoke on the bank of the lake, wet and cold, and still feeling like my heart had been ripped out of my chest, but knowing that she would always be there for me, I shook off the water from my scales and continued on my journey home.

End

……………….


End file.
